


Five Times Hatter Explained Himself

by misura



Category: Alice (2009)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-24
Updated: 2012-12-24
Packaged: 2017-11-22 06:49:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/607000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Although most of the time, naturally, he only told people what they wanted to hear.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Hatter Explained Himself

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mycha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mycha/gifts).



> prompt: _Some random plot ideas: Why is Hatter a Tea Shoppe owner, or why does he have to hold that position? What is it like to be high on emotions (good or bad) or simply around Tea Heads day in and day out?_
> 
> the first one sounded like fun, so I ran with it

1.

"Because it turns a good profit," he said, and that seemed to be enough; his form got stamped and he got to keep his head, and as he arrived outside, staring down, he wondered what other reason anyone with half a brain could have given and expected to get away with.

 

2.

"Cover!" he said, and Owl was a kind soul, really she was, and also a bit hard of hearing, on occasion. "Because it turns a good cover!"

She stopped poking him, but she still looked suspicious.

"Would I really try to fool you people? Do I look like an idiot to you?"

She knew as well as he (he liked to think) that the answer to both question was 'no'.

Hatter would never _try_ ; he'd simply do it, when the mood struck him. When it was convenient. When harm might befall him if he didn't.

(Owl's mistake was thinking that anyone clever enough to see the Hearts needed to be brought down would not also be clever enough to see that that job was better left to other people.)

 

.03

Hatter sipped his tea, pretending to feel very (he quickly glanced at the bottle) 'serene'. (Well, that was simple. These new emotions might not be to everyone's taste, but they certainly made his life a good deal easier in moments like this one. Only last year, he'd been forced to have a go at being 'elated' for a solid half hour. He'd been completely exhausted, after, and anything but 'elated', during.)

"It amuses me," he said. "Other people getting all worked up."

The Duchess giggled. She'd taken a drop ('just a drop, mind') of 'girlish enthusiasm', one of the limited edition, this year only specials Hatter kept under the counter for special customers.

"So, do I pass, then?" he asked, casually. Another year of this - well, still better than another year of a great many other things, and markedly better than no other year of anything at all on account of being headless.

"I'll think about it," she said, holding up her glass for a refill.

 

.04

Mad March did not drink tea, but he called forth a host of emotions.

Hatter doubted the man felt any himself, aside from, perhaps, a certain enjoyment of his work. He was, after all, quite mad, which was not an emotion on its own, but still a state of mind, which might be altered, provided one had the right bottle at hand.

(And Hatter planned to be the one, and he had all the right bottles, lined up neatly in a row, with Her Majesty's blessing. She'd think twice before sending her pet assassin for him, he hoped, but when she did, he'd be ready.)

 

.05

"Hard work, long hours." He shrugged. "Not so different at all, really."

He could tell by Alice's face that she didn't quite understand, that in her world (as in his) there were preconceptions attached to jobs, and for some reason, being a construction worker here did not match her impression of him as a tea shoppe owner there.

"You mean it was a dirty job but someone had to do it," she said, with a faint, fond smile. (She loved him. He'd never need to _pretend_ being 'elated' ever again.)

"Exactly," he said, even though really, he didn't think it had been that at all.


End file.
